The season inches closer. As Hokies everywhere continue to revel in ACC mania, there remains one final year of tangling with the Big East teams not named Miami. Tech�s Big East Farewell Tour will commence with the Hokies picked third by conference media. I don�t particularly care for that prediction, justified as it may be by recent performance, so I have decided to make my own. These conference predictions are guaranteed to be correct unless they are not.

Greg Schiano continues to plug along on his ground zero building effort, attempting to change the perceptions and realities of Rutgers as the biggest joke in Division I-A and New Jersey as a Mecca for football recruiting for every team but the Knights. It appears his efforts bear fruit as Rutgers opens with four straight OOC wins, including an upset at a Michigan State team in disarray. The Knights are undefeated heading into their October 4 tilt with also-unbeaten Virginia Tech, a game Sciano calls "the biggest in the history of Rutgers football." Following the 0-55 loss to the Hokies, Rutgers collapses and reverts to form, losing their remaining games to finish at 4-8 and stretch their Big East winless streak to twenty-eight games. Schiano exults in the most wins for Rutgers since 1998 and vows that RU will not finish eighth in the Big East in 2004.

Things continue to deteriorate for the Owls, as the Eagles attempt to extort $15 million from them for the right to lose at brand-new Lincoln Financial Field. Temple goes 1-6 in the Big East with the lone victory over Rutgers, but Bobby Wallace continues his run of surprising at least one BE team with an upset win at Louisville. Temple finishes the season at 4-8, and Wallace leaves for the head-coaching job at Allegheny Junior College.

It is a season of tough losses for the Eagles, as they follow up their disastrous RUTS at the hands of NC State Chancellor Marye Anne Fox with close OOC losses to Penn State and Notre Dame. In the BE, Fredo loses his usual games against Miami and Virginia Tech and is beaten at the Carrier Dome by Syracuse and at home by Pittsburgh to finish 6-6, 3-4 in the Big East. 

WVU and Rich Rodriguez take a small step back after suffering heavy graduation losses. The Mountaineers get a big win over Pittsburgh in the Backyard Brawl but lose on the road at Syracuse and Boston College. They are hammered at Miami and lose at home to Virginia Tech before a Wednesday night sellout crowd buoyed by the �Trash can and battery� promotion at the Morgantown Wal-Mart that gives a free ticket to the Temple-WVU game to any fan that can hit a Tech player from the upper deck of Mountaineer Field. The Eers end up 7-5, 3-4 in the BE.

An experienced quarterback in RJ Anderson enables Syracuse to bounce back from the debacle of 2003. The Orangepersons still have their usual slow start, losing at North Carolina and at home to Louisville before bouncing back to defeat Central Florida and Toledo. Syracuse then travels to Lane Stadium and is blasted 7-52 by Virginia Tech. Paul Pasqualoni complains of RUTS after Marcus Vick hits Fred Lee on a 47-yard touchdown pass with 0:26 remaining in the game. Frank Beamer responds with, "You got that right. Pay us back next year if you can. Oops, I forgot. See ya." The Orangepersons then defeat Fredo, lose to Pittsburgh, beat Temple and get clobbered at Miami. They are 4-5 going into their final three games and Internet traffic is slowed worldwide by the proliferation of �Fire Pasqualoni� Web sites. With their coach�s job on the line the Orangepersons rally to beat West Virginia, Rutgers and close their year with a big win over Notre Dame in the Carrier Dome, preventing the Irish from getting to nine wins and thus knocking them out of the BCS. Syracuse goes 7-5, 4-3 in the conference.

The projected big season for the Panthers appears on track as they breeze through the MAC portion of their schedule. A bump in the road occurs at Kyle Field, as the Panthers lose to Texas A&M. Pitt loses at home to Notre Dame before getting their season back on track via the fortuitous circumstance of having Rutgers appear next on their schedule. Pittsburgh continues to win before losing at West Virginia. They then beat Temple, setting up their season-ending clash with Miami for a share of the Big East championship. As usually happens to the Panthers against the Canes, Pitt loses and finishes 8-4, 5-2 in the BE.

Despite their usual heavy personnel losses to the NFL, the Canes show they are still the Canes, spending their first five games pounding everybody in sight. Miami returns to their customary Number One ranking before being upset by Florida State at Bobby Doak Campbell Stadium. An unheard of second loss befalls the Canes at Virginia Tech. Miami rallies to win out and forge a tie for the BE championship with a conference mark of 6-1, 10-2 overall.

There is a very strong buzz emanating from this year�s Hokies, as Frank Beamer�s program attempts to return to the top of the Big East one last time and discontinue the annoying habit of losing to double-digit underdogs. Tech opens by beating Central Florida 34-14, and then Marcus Vick plays for three quarters in a 77-0 pounding of JMU. A Thursday night game in Lane Stadium produces the usual Thursday night in Lane Stadium results, as Tech beats Texas A&M 27-14. UConn is dispatched, along with Rutgers, Syracuse and West Virginia. Frank Beamer then notches a signature victory, as Tech beats fifth-ranked Miami 35-31. Following the emotional win over the Canes, Tech is flat against Pitt and suffers their annual loss to the Panthers before winning out to finish at 11-1 and claim a share of the Big East championship at 6-1.

Virginia Tech is chosen by the Orange Bowl by virtue of beating Miami head-to-head and the fact that Tech fans will travel to South Beach and spend money. The Hokies face the ACC champion, 9-3 Florida State. It is an emotional game for the Noles, the final one for coach Bobby Bowden, who announced his retirement after FSU was slapped with a heavy probation by the NCAA. Florida State beats Tech 28-24 in Bowden�s last game.

Miami is snubbed for a BCS at-large berth and instead plays Maryland in the Gator Bowl, where the angry Canes trample the Terps 70-14 in front of thirty-five thousand fans. Following the game, Gator Bowl Executive Director Rick Berman announces the bowl is ending its association with the Big East for "obvious reasons."

Notre Dame, knocked out of the BCS by Syracuse, takes the Orangeperson�s spot in the Insight, and loses to Arizona. Pitt defeats BYU in the Nut Bowl. A controversy is created when the Tire Bowl selects West Virginia over a Syracuse team that had beaten WVU during the season. Tire Bowl Executive Director Ken Haines justifies the choice with comments of, "Syracuse? Are you kidding me?" West Virginia defeats Duke in the Tire Bowl before twenty-five thousand fans. Afterwards, Haines announces the Tire Bowl is not renewing its contract with the Big East, saying, "And this surprises whom? Do you honestly think we would take the chance of being stuck with Cincinnati?"

Despite a 7-5 record, Syracuse stays home, as no bowl would invite them. A perplexed Big East Commissioner Mike Tranghese said, "I don�t understand it. Who wouldn�t want 1% of the New York market?"

TechSideline Pass Home